WM Motor was one of the early representatives in China's new energy vehicle (NEV) sector, once known alongside NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto as the "Four Dragons of New Energy."

In 2019, WM Motor achieved an annual sales volume of 16,876 units, ranking second among new energy vehicle startups and gaining immense momentum. It attracted investments from leading enterprises including Baidu and SAIC Group, with a total financing amount exceeding 35 billion yuan.

However, in 2021, WM Motor faced frequent spontaneous combustion incidents, primarily involving two models: the EX5 and EX6. Subsequently, the company initiated a vehicle recall, but its solution surprisingly involved "limiting battery capacity," which significantly shortened the vehicles' driving range and triggered dissatisfaction among owners. It was from this point that WM Motor's sales began to plummet, and by 2022, the brand had disappeared from sales rankings altogether.

From 2019 to 2021, WM Motor accumulated losses of 17.4 billion yuan, with a single-year loss of 8.2 billion yuan in 2021. According to disclosures at a 2024 creditors' meeting, WM Motor's total liabilities range from 16.379 billion to 20.367 billion yuan, while its assets are only 4.1 billion yuan. The company owes over 40 million yuan in unpaid wages and 1.734 billion yuan in payments to suppliers.

After failing three attempts to go public and with its cash flow completely collapsed, WM Motor eventually fell into a semi-shutdown state, with its sales and production systems entirely paralyzed. This left over 100,000 owners facing issues such as infotainment system failures, Bluetooth key malfunctions, and cloud service interruptions.

Earlier this year, a restructuring plan for WM Motor was announced. Under the plan, the company aims to resume production as soon as 2025 and simultaneously advance brand renewal. Over the next two years, WM Motor will increase R&D investments and product layout, planning to launch 1-2 new models for mass production and delivery each year, with a goal of achieving sales of over 600,000 units by 2027.

Whether this restructuring plan will ultimately succeed remains uncertain, but let us all wait and see.

The once second-best seller among new energy vehicle startups, WM Motor, has collapsed. Who would have thought that Neta Auto, the former "champion" of the "new forces" in EV manufacturing, would also fail to escape the fate of a financial implosion.

In fact, since the end of last year, Neta Auto has been dogged by negative rumors, including large-scale layoffs, salary cuts, unpaid supplier debts, and production halts. Later, Zhang Yong, the former CEO of Neta Auto, resigned, and founder Fang Yunzhou issued an all-staff letter announcing a "second entrepreneurial journey."

In April this year, media reports claimed that former CEO Zhang Yong was stranded in the UK, fueling suspicions of "fleeing," while multiple dealer representatives gathered at Neta Auto's Tongxiang factory to demand debt repayment. Just recently, netizens captured photos showing that the "Neta Auto" logo on the exterior wall of the company's Shanghai headquarters had been removed overnight.

Neta Auto is a smart electric vehicle brand under Hopson New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., founded in 2014 with its headquarters in Shanghai. The brand was officially launched in June 2018, with founder Fang Yunzhou at the helm.

Positioned as a "high cost-performance ratio" brand, Neta Auto focused on the mass market in the 100,000-yuan price segment. In its early days, it rose rapidly through models like the Neta V and Neta U. In 2022, it became the best-selling new force brand with annual sales of 152,000 units, surpassing top players like NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto.

Subsequently, Neta Auto began transitioning to the mid-to-high-end market. In April 2023, it launched the two-door pure electric sports car Neta GT, with a listed guide price of 178,800 to 226,800 yuan. In July 2023, it introduced the pure electric sedan Neta S, priced at 199,800 to 338,800 yuan.

However, Neta Auto's premiumization journey was far from ideal, and its sales actually declined. On one hand, in the low-end market, stronger competitors emerged, including BYD Seagull and Wuling Bingo, which eroded a significant portion of Neta V's sales. On the other hand, its two mid-to-high-end models, the Neta GT and Neta S, generated only mediocre responses, failing to meet sales expectations. Additionally, insufficient technological reserves, weak cost control, and vague brand positioning gradually pushed Neta Auto toward elimination in the fierce competition.

Although the subsequent launch of the Neta L, with its good cost-performance ratio, brought a sales recovery for Neta Auto, years of accumulated losses and failed financing ultimately led to its collapse.

Early this year, Neta Auto made some efforts, including planning a Series E financing of approximately 4 to 4.5 billion yuan and hoping to reduce debt through "debt-to-equity swaps," but the financing ultimately did not materialize.

For now, Neta Auto shows no obvious signs of recovery, and users have lost confidence in the brand, making it extremely difficult to resume production.

The collapse of Jyue Auto (formerly Jidu Auto) is likely unexpected by many, especially given its backing from two industry giants, Baidu and Geely. Few could have foreseen its sudden shutdown almost overnight, with hardly any prior warning signs.

Jyue Auto (originally named Jidu Auto) is a premium smart electric vehicle brand jointly established by Baidu and Geely Holding Group in 2021. It aims to create the concept of "automobile robots" by combining Baidu's intelligent technologies with Geely's manufacturing capabilities.

In August 2023, to resolve issues related to automotive production qualifications, Jidu Auto rebranded as Jyue Auto, with Geely holding a 65% stake and Baidu's share reduced to 35%. The brand launched its first model, the Jyue 01, and in 2024, it unveiled the second model, the Jyue 07.

Jyue's vehicles leverage Baidu's technologies for intelligence, such as the Baidu Apollo advanced autonomous driving system and the ERNIE large language model, emphasizing smart cockpits and intelligent driving capabilities, including high-speed navigation and urban road assisted driving. In terms of mechanical performance, they are built on Geely's cutting-edge SEA Haohan architecture, integrating Geely's three-electric (battery, motor, electronic control) technologies and supply chain advantages.

However, the Jyue 01 performed poorly in the market after its launch, with sales of only 3,000 units in the first two months and a cumulative 11,000 units over 14 months, averaging less than 800 units per month—far below expectations.

In October 2024, media reports stated that Baidu’s internal due diligence revealed Jyue had a financial deficit as high as 7 billion yuan. Coupled with its cold market performance, Baidu promptly decided to withdraw its planned follow-up investment of 3 billion yuan.

Subsequently, due to tight cash flow, Jyue began defaulting on employee social security contributions, wages, and supplier payments. Geely also stopped providing finished vehicles to Jyue, and factory production lines were halted. Jyue CEO Xia Yiping issued an internal letter admitting the company had entered a "startup 2.0 phase"—in effect, a phase of layoffs and business contraction—and planned to retain only a 100-person team.

Recently, news of Jyue Auto’s potential "revival" has emerged. Xu Jiye, the former public relations director of Jyue Auto, recently posted on his personal social media that during a visit to Baidu Science and Technology Park, colleagues revealed that Jyue was highly unlikely to go bankrupt. The Jidu board of directors has approved a restructuring plan, and the company is currently in talks with 3-4 restructuring parties.

Additionally, Zhejiang Jyue Auto Technology Co., Ltd. recently underwent industrial and commercial changes, renaming itself Zhejiang Fengsheng Auto Technology Co., Ltd., and adding Taizhou Geely Automobile Industry Co., Ltd. as a shareholder.

With subsequent financial support, Jyue might indeed turn the corner.